56. Ryder
Skin and Bones - David Kushner
Chest to chest in the library, she stands blindfolded before me. Her cinnamon hair is pulled back into a loose braid that hangs down her back.
“Can I open my eyes now?” she asks trying to hide her smile. I know she loves surprises, but she won’t like this once I give back her vision.
“I need you to take a deep breath. When I take this off, I want your eyes on me, sparrow.” I command.
She bites her lower lip in anticipation and I plant a kiss on her forehead before removing the fabric from her face. Her expression quickly drops as she takes in the room around us.
Candles illuminate the space around us. So many, you would think it was daylight. Terror strikes her gaze and I feel her shoulders become stiff under my grip.
“Why would you do this?” she asks with a whisper, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes.
“Eyes on me.” She obeys immediately while letting a single tear escape.
I can feel the terror radiate from her skin, boiling right below the surface. There was a chance she’d take off and run, but that would mean passing through the candles that surrounded us closely. Only a single path is available, but it’s behind her and she’s too scared to move.
I wanted her to conquer her fear. I wanted to remove the terrible memories that plagued her. I wanted to replace every fucking memory she has before me.
I begin to slowly circle her as she trembles.
“I want to remind you, sparrow, that if I had to burn the world for you, you might have to get close to the flames,” she whimpers as I caress her arm with the back of my fingers. “This is the dark world we live in. But once the world has been engulfed in the fire, I will extinguish every flame until there is nothing but embers. You will never be burned again.”
I turn her around to face me and begin to walk across the room towards my large oak desk. Her hand reaches out to me, but I’m just out of reach.
“Ryde, please,” she quietly begs, “please put these out.”
“I need you to walk to me, Devina,” I gently urge, leaning back against the desk. My arms fold over my chest.
She slowly lowers herself to her knees and begins to sob. She’s so much stronger than this, but I know the memories are replaying in her mind. She needs to focus on me. I need her to know I will always protect her.
“I can’t,” she pleads with her head bowed.
“Then you will crawl to me,” the words make her eyes snap to mine. She may be terrified, but I know she is clenching her thighs together, wanting me to give her a release. We silently hold our gaze as tension builds. This is what we do. But I won’t break first.
Slowly she inches toward me, her black dress cut perfectly above her knees. I hold her gaze with intensity. She lifts her chin. She will always obey, even when she isn’t happy about it. I was ready for her before we stepped into the room, but now I’m aching to be inside her, to reward her bravery. As she inches closer, I kneel to her level, catching her quivering chin in my palm.
“Look how well you did for me, sparrow,” I know she’ll gush for the praise. “Are you ready for your reward?”
Her breath hitches as I readjust my hand to the column of her throat, lifting her from the ground to her feet. A blanket of desire covers the fear until it’s snuffed. She hasn’t noticed that many of the candles have burned themselves out and the light around us has simmered to a soft glow.
“Yes,” she says, breathlessly.
Keeping my hand snug against her throat, I use the other to wrap around her waist, lifting her in the air. Her legs work quickly to wrap around me and she connects her ankles, bringing her impossibly close.
Turning to face the desk, I gently lay her over the cold wood. Leaning down, close enough to feel her breath on my lips, I continue my praise. A simple ‘good girl’ would not suffice.
“You are so brave, my sweet sparrow,” I let my lips touch hers, but do not permit a kiss. Her tiny fingers grasp my crisp shirt to pull me closer. “You are so fucking strong.” I drag my lips across her skin and down her neck. She arches her back to give me access to her sensitive skin. “You are a masterpiece,” I proclaim as I reach around to pull her scarred arm away from me to pin above her head.
“Are you ready for me sparrow?” I taunt. Her whimper is all the confirmation I need.
***
The memory plays back as I enter a room with dark navy walls. Bookshelves line both sides of me and I trace my finger along the spines as I make my way toward the chair near the window. The only light guiding me is from the streetlight outside. I take a seat and pull a cigarette from my suit pocket. I inhale and think of her. It’s been ages since I’ve stepped foot in my father’s study, but the memory of us in the library was my inspiration.
She wouldn’t believe me, but she wasn’t just a chapter. She was the whole damn book. A book that hadn’t begun until our eyes locked and that would never finish.
It has been two weeks. Two agonizing weeks since my sparrow has taken flight toward her next chapter. But she’s left one thing unwritten, in an act of true selflessness. She could never take from me what he took from her. And while I know her innocent heart believed she was only ever meant to be a glimmer for me, I know that to be untrue. She was never a glimmer, a moment, a glimpse. She was the spotlight. She was time when time stood still. She was the vision.
I inhale.
The brass handle of the door turns and light bleeds into the room as he enters. He shuts the door and switches the light on before shaking his coat off. Fucking bastard hasn’t even noticed me. He turns to face me and his face pales with shock.
“Ryde, what the hell are you doing here?” he glances down at the gun.
He knows what I’m here for.
This is for Scarlet and Devina.I think cocking one bullet into the chamber, but I know he is picturing the faces of everyone he has ever wronged, still trying to decide which one I’m acting on behalf of.
He is plastered to the back of the door. The man I spent years fearing, the man determined to make me as cold as he is. The man who only cared for power and would kill to keep it.
“This is for Scarlet,” I say, lifting to take aim as the look of recognition paints his face at the sound of her name. I don’t wait for a response. There is none that he could give that would change my mind.
As his eyes widen, I do not hesitate any longer to pull the trigger.
He falls with a thud.
It wasn’t the grand finale that I knew she would have wanted. There were no flames. But the bullet coming from my gun was the ultimate revenge.
I stand to drop my cigarette and step on it with my black loafers. Walking towards him, I notice how weak he looks. Shock is still apparent in his features.
I cock my gun once more.
My finger presses against the cold metal and heat rises to my ears.
“And this is for Devina.”
The echo of the shot rings in my head and I know all that’s left to do is eagerly wait for the moment she will be mine again.